riki.nishimura → airport hug

17

I walked up to the Event Planner, who was speaking with one of the Head Managers of this building. They looked at me, sparkles in their eyes of awe, but then with a hint of confusion.

"Who.. is this?" The event planner looked at my assistant who just gave a small smile.

"Mei Hirata, nice to meet you." I formally introduced myself to the two, and the reactions were priceless.

Their jaws literally dropped, mouths wide open as they looked at my face and then my whole outfit.

"No way. Hirata? Holy fuck, excuse my language, but wow." The event planner was stunned for words, they just basically drooled over me for the first few minutes.

"You're revealing your identity here?" The head manager, Sihyun, asked me. I briefly nodded my head, a light smile across my lips.

"I thought it's about time to show the world who actually is behind the paintings." I told him, now that I have Min-kyu off my back, it doesn't really matter when or how I do it.

"Wow, I... I'm really shocked. That's the least I can say. You're so gorgeous Mei." The event planner didn't cut his gaze off me, evidently interested in me.

I gave him a sincere, friendly smile, giving the slight nod of a head as a thank you.

"Alright, we need to go prepare for the event, it's starting soon." Sihyun dragged the event planner away as we said our goodbyes.

My assistant turned to look at me, a laughable expression on her face.

"You're about to capture the hearts of many Mei, many many many. You're gonna have people queuing up in lines to date you." She chuckled as we made our way to the lounge room, awaiting for the whole thing to start already.

I must say, the nerves had settled and I was feeling less nervous about doing this whole thing now. I was pretty much ready, the sickly feeling was obviously still there, but generally, I was excited and just wanted time to pass quicker.

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Word got by in the staff lounge that I was the creator of the Hirata paintings and frequently, a few staff members came into the lounge room to come and greet me and see me.

It made excited, seeing how people were eager to find out what I looked like, who I was, and even talk to me.

The man who owned the association that funded the venue came into the lounge room, smiling brightly at me and bowing respectfully. I did the same back, standing up and smiling at him.

"Wow, they weren't joking when they said Hirata was gorgeous. It's an honour to have you step foot in this place." He smiled as I chuckled lightly.

"Oh please, It feels like a blessing to be here myself, I honestly can't comprehend this." I laughed as the man's assistant came up to us with a camera.

"Would it be okay if we took a few photos together? I'd like to put them on the website of the venue." He inquired and I nodded, standing beside him.

He put his arm near my waist, respectfully, and threw up a peace sign, and the next photo, he pointed at me with a huge grin.

The photos were snapped, and looking back at them, they looked pretty cute.

"Thank you so much, I'll see you around Hirata." He bowed deeply once again, before heading out into the place.

Not so long after, my assistant ran into the room in a hurry, a huge grin on her face as she jumped around in excitement.

"They're coming in, it's starting! Mei! It's starting!!!" She seemed to be more excited about this than I was.

Over hearing the news of the people coming in, I began to grow more anxious as seconds passed, seconds passed quick, but minutes passed even quicker and by the time I knew it, the introduction was already starting.

There were a few speeches to be made before my arrival on stage, so I just paced around the room, reciting the words in my head over and over and over again, until my brain could just spew them out naturally.

To say I was nervous was the least you could say, I had to take numerous deep breaths in, trying to calm the bundle of nerves in my stomach. I couldn't run away at all, not at all, it wouldn't make a good impression for me, or for the entire thing.

And seeing how much effort they put in to this entire thing, I couldn't let anybody down, therefore, I had to get a grip of myself, holding my hand where my heart was, just feeling the frantic beating.

I swallowed hard, any time now. I checked myself out for the last time, ensuring everything was still perfect - and yes, everything looked good.

One of the workers opened the door, looking at me.

"Hirata, you're up." He spoke as I nodded, my assistant gave a light pat on the shoulder as I stepped out of the lounge room.